03 May 2011

All the people at the club, as you know, will agree that I'm well qualified to represent the LBC. The Laguna Beach Crew, that is. We keep it real in shirts of madras, khaki shorts, and boat shoes. The chaps at Nantucket-based Castaway Clothing, I note, are also keeping it real. I say this because their latest catalog recently landed on my antique Peruvian tea table and it is very impressive indeed. Castaway Clothing appears to represent prep style that is both authentic and relevant. The classic men's line-up includes madras shirts, seersucker shorts, embroidered trousers, and dirty bucks. Not as trendy as J.Crew. Not as flimsy as Brooks Brothers. Not as gimmicky as Vineyard Vines. Not as old-school as J.Press. Pure, unadulterated prep.

What immediately struck me about the Castaway Clothing catalog, I must admit, was the attractiveness of the female models, particularly the pretty girls on pages 25 and 31. If there were such a thing as a preppy pin-up, these ladies would seem to fit the bill. I generally don't comment on women's clothing; it's what's underneath that interests me. Still, the young woman (at left) in a seersucker Cocktail Skirt, check shirt, and boat shoes symbolises an ideal, reminding me of the girls of my youth. The skirt is key. I wholeheartedly approve of skirts and dresses and wish more women would wear them. I find skirts attractive not only because they leave more to the imagination, but also because they compel women to walk in such a way that draws attention to and enhances their delightful feminine attributes. Trousers on women are as outlandish as pyjamas on dogs. I recall that even as a charming lad of 5 or 6 in suburban Connecticut I opposed girls in trousers--much preferring them in skirts--and rather aggressively communicated my views to the point where I had to be taken aside and ordered to "get with the times". In a world in sartorial decline, this is the last thing one ought to do.

4 comments:

A.E.F.
said...

Admiral, Some women cite freedom of movement when choosing trousers over skirts and dresses. I find thigh high splits or very short hemlines allow me twice as much maneuverability and allow me to show off the latest addition to my shoe collection which, I have to say, are somewhat more elegant than boat shoes.

I get this catalog too, and right off I had the same observation as you in re the female models. Don't know why more companies don't do it.

As to the clothing -- I am delighted that there is a reliable purveyor of embroidered shorts and trousers. I have a few pair of their cords, embroidered and not. (1) They are quite roomy, which is good, as the trend seems to be otherwise. (2) Quality of the embroidery is high and the colors are great. (3) Only disappointment is that they are fine wale, as opposed to wide wale -- not really sure why that is the case.